Have you ever been charged with libel?

THAT is a question that my students at Ateneo de Manila University and The Manila Times College ask me when we take up media ethics and libel in our classes.

Under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), libel is defined as "a public and malicious imputation of a crime, a vice or a defect, real or imaginary, or an act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead."